This blog will catalog my adventure in the Peace Corps. While it will probably not be updated daily or weekly, I'll post stuff here from the island life. Hope you enjoy.

MJ Live

Sunday, March 19, 2006

Fitting In (Written 3/19/06)

Standing on Vaiala Beach

Well this week nothing super new or exciting happened but that'sprobably one of the best things that could be happening at this pointin my service. I'm just getting to the point where I'm getting into agroove with work and doing some side projects (like a Peace CorpsMarch Madness) that keep me active away from the grind of work. One ofthe things that I did encounter this week was the realization thatcomputers were not meant for second or third world country – they werenot meant for places in which spiders, flies and humidity could attacktheir components without much resistance. I've run into a mysteryproblem with the video display on my main server and while I wouldhave all the tools (and advice) I would need in America – such is notthe case here. It could be anything from a monitor problem to a videocard problem, both of which are not easy to obtain here (or are veryexpensive). As such (this happened on Thursday) I just hit a point offrustration and decided I needed a break from work and get my mind onsomething else. That's when I got the bright idea of trying to fit in.

For those who know me I like to have my headphones on a lot because itblocks out the world – no one really bothers you when you haveheadphones on (it seems to be a universal rule for the most part) sofor the past few days I decided to leave the headphones and musicplayer at home and just kind of enjoy the Samoan sound. So on SaturdayI tried this little experiment and the first thing that I kind ofnoticed is that people talked to me a bit more without the headphoneson. As I did my shopping, I used my Samoan a little bit more then Inormally have in the past (gotta use it or you'll lose it) and as Iwas walking from the Peace Corps office a Samoan just came up to meand starting speaking to me in Samoan (I understood bits and piecesbut he was very friendly and told me in English what he was trying totell me in Samoan). As I rode the bus home on Saturday, a lady thatwas on the bus when I rode it into town asked me some questions and Ihad a nice little conversation with her and the bus driver (who seesme all the time) actually drove me up to my house – which he hasn'treally done unless I had people with me. So in all Saturday was just agreat day of feeling like I was somewhat adjusting to the Samoanlifestyle and the Samoan sound. Who knows, I may just venture out morewithout the headphones and hear what I can hear.

On Sunday after church I again decided to do a little bit of exploring– this time trying to find Vaiala Beach (another personal goal forme). It's a beach that's pretty close to the Peace Corps office andsome of the other volunteers had told me about it so I wanted to seeit for myself. I found it and it's on the same coastline as PaloloDeep so it's got a great view. It was nice to once again be able tosit down on a Sunday and just enjoy something that I could only enjoywhile being here. Another part of fitting in anywhere is enjoyingwhere you are and the beauty that it has to offer. I definitely didthat and enjoyed myself quite a bit. The beach also reenergized me forthis upcoming week in which I will attend my first teacher in-service.Oh joy! L8r.

Note: The 'Volunteer Life' Album has been updated with photos from Vaiala. Enjoy.

Volunteer Bio

A former Peace Corps Volunteer now living in St. Louis. I have a varied interest that primarily focuses on Technology and gadgets. Now living the married life with an amazing wife and a dog (no white picket fences just yet)